Investigators dig for clues in Jessome, MacKinnon murder cases

Investigators are digging for clues in a Cape Breton town where two women were murdered.

Charges have already been laid in the cases of 21-year-old Brett Elizabeth MacKinnon and 21-year-old Laura Jessome and police promise more arrests are coming.

Police spent Thursday using a shovel and ice pick to dig into the frozen riverbank of Renwick Brook in Glace Bay. A small tent-like shelter protected the scene while a propane heater melted the ground below.

Many passersby were curious about what police were digging for in the ground beneath the tent.

“Scary. You don’t know what’s in it. It could be anything,” says resident Juanita Clark.

The search is being conducted about a kilometre from where MacKinnon’s remains were found in Nov. 2008.

Police won’t say which murder case their search involves, only describing what they are looking for as “an article.”

“All I can tell you is that we are in that area doing an article search right now, following up on some information as part of an ongoing investigation,” says Cape Breton Regional Police spokeswoman Desiree Vassallo.

MacKinnon’s father lives near the site where police are searching.

“I don’t know what kind of evidence they could find, but anything at all they could find to help convict this guy,” says Francis MacKinnon.

While one man has been charged with helping to dispose of MacKinnon’s remains, no one has been charged with her actual murder, although police name a suspect in court documents.

“I don’t think there is going to be closure, but if there is such as thing, maybe there will be,” says Francis MacKinnon. ”We are hopeful anyway.”

With files from CTV Atlantic's Randy MacDonald

Related Stories

Photos

Police spent Thursday using a shovel and ice pick to dig into the frozen riverbank of Renwick Brook in Glace Bay. A small tent-like shelter protected the scene while a propane heater melted the ground below.

Brett Elizabeth MacKinnon was last seen in June 2006 and was reported missing just over a month later. Her remains were found near a hiking trail Nov. 21, 2008 on the outskirts of Glace Bay.

Laura Jessome's remains were found in a hockey bag, floating on the Mira River near Marion Bridge on May 25, 2012.